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User blog:Reaper with no name/The Narrative Roles of each Kaiju
Yes, it has come to this. Trespasser was, of course, the first Kaiju. He introduced the primary conflict of the story, created the need for the Jaeger Program, and triggered the status quo. It is worth noting that the first and last things there are usually mutually-exclusive in a story, as the introduction of the primary conflict usually disrupts the status quo, rather than leads to it. Knifehead had several narrative roles to fulfill. To begin with, he had to solve a central problem that the prologue created: the good guys were already winning. There wouldn't be much of a story if things started good for the heroes and only continued to get better. Therefore, Knifehead had to establish a new threat level for the primary antagonists (the Kaiju). In so doing, he removed Yancy from the story (essential for the introduction of Mako, as well as the themes and subplots that came with her). This death also established Raleigh's credentials as an incredible pilot (by giving him the opportunity to go solo) and his primary subplot (coming to terms with his brother's death and moving on). Mutavore had a short list of things he had to do. He demonstrated the futility of the coastal wall (proving that the Jaegers were indeed the only hope, despite what those at the top wanted to believe) before introducing us to the Striker Eureka and her crew. By dying shortly thereafter, Mutavore also established the power of that team. Onibaba facillitated Mako's desire for revenge, helped to build Stacker Pentecost's reputation (that was the battle where he went solo), and caused Stacker to adopt Mako (which established an important aspect of the Raleigh/Mako subplot, as I have explored previously). Together, Leatherback and Otachi raised the threat bar by using Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha as red shirts (well, technically, they would be mauve shirts, but the distinctions and definitions may be lost on some). They each also served to show off the power of the new Gipsy Danger and her crew. This signalled the conclusion of Raleigh and Mako's individual subplots. Notice how Leatherback is killed by the plasma cannon in the right arm (Raleigh's) before the left one is used to "check for a pulse". Raleigh is put into the same situation that took his brother from him, he deals with it, and makes sure to not make the same mistake again (with a joke, even!). Against Knifehead, the right plasma cannon put him down, but the left one was removed before it could be used. The fight against Leatherback is therefore how the fight against Knifehead should have gone. Raleigh has moved on. Mako, meanwhile, finally gets revenge for her family by cutting Otachi in half (using the chainsword on the left arm, naturally). On his own, Leatherback performed two impressive narrative feats. He first removed Striker Eureka from the battle (this was supposed to be Gipsy's moment of stardom, after all) without cheapening or destroying it (leaving it free to be as effective as the plot required during the final battle). And then he managed to remove Hercules Hansen from the final battle (by breaking his arm) without removing him from the story entirely. Otachi not only fulfilled Newt's desire to see a living Kaiju up close (referencing an aesop older than dirt: be careful what you wish for), but also introduced the Baby Kaiju to the story. The Baby Kaiju was ultimately a plot device to get Hannibal Chau out of the story (at least until the credits) and facillitate a second Kaiju drift. Poor Scunner's only real jobs were to isolate Gipsy from Striker and then trigger Striker's heroic sacrifice by responding to Slattern's call for help. Note that neither of these necessitated any specific skills from Scunner (other than the ability to damage Gipsy's leg), and could theoretically have been performed by any Kaiju. Raiju, on the other hand, may have had only one job, but he performed it wonderfully. His job was to raise the threat bar to its final level, and he delivered. Up until that point, it looked like our heroes had a pretty good chance of victory. After all, Gipsy had already defeated two Kaiju in a single battle, so all they had to do was have Gipsy do it again (he already had Scunner on the ropes) while Striker held off Slattern and then gang up on him. Then, Raiju. Suddenly, the plan was severed from its shoulder and then bitten in half with equal effort. Raiju established beyond all doubt that things were bad, and put us in genuine fear for our heroes' lives (after all, who could forget what happened the last time Gipsy lost an arm?). As if that wasn't enough, Raiju was even kind enough to politely exit stage left once he had fulfilled his narrative role, thereby freeing up spotlight for the other actors on the set. And what an exit it was. It wasn't enough for Raiju's life to be awesome. His death had to be awesome as well. And not only was it awesome, but it was hilarious, too. Normally, those two things are in conflict, but Raiju found a way to make it work. As you have probably guessed by this point, Raiju is my favorite Kaiju (and not just because "Raiju the Kaiju" rhymes). He was fulfilling on a narrative, awesome, and comedic level. However, there is still one more Kaiju that we must look into before we can wrap this up. Slattern is the ultimate threat. He is the representative of the exterminators that Newt warned us about. He is the symbol of the Devil, the personification of Evil itself. He is the ultimate physical threat that the heroes must overcome to face the evil masterminds (The Precursors). He allowed for the fulfilling of the hype surrounding Stacker Pentecost that had been built up for the entire movie ("Is he actually standing up to that thing? And...winning?"). He allowed for us to see Chuck's transformation from a jerk into a hero ("Like my father always said; if you got the shot, you take it!"). And, in true villain style, he served as the key to the Breach. Category:Blog posts